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The future is ours and it's up for grabs...

“A well-crafted, highly imaginative collection of ideas that are inescapably relevant to our era. At times it is terrifying. Other times it is whimsical. But every installment is food for thought.” Orchid’s Lantern.

The first review through the door is from Celia Wade-Brown, the Mayor of Wellington in New Zealand.

“Oram offers a glimpse into a Dystopian London where social media use moves from mild addiction to a visceral quest for survival, where commodification of experience and shallow responses sound warning bells for our species’ continuance. Current debate about benefits and who’s entitled to support reach bitter depths . Fluence’s mix of characters tumble today’s class system and focus on appearance into a rat race where empathy is rare and no-one knows who is friend or foe, even within their own family. A fast-paced and eerily visual read.”

So… imagine a dystopian world: where you are defined by algorithms; where corporations are in control of the government; and where your social media influence determines where you can live. Imagine the dystopian world of Fluence.

Have you ever been in a supermarket queue with someone shouting in your general direction that there are plenty of empty self-service tills? I have. I was in one when I started to ponder what it might be like if the corporations governed us.

As I waited disobediently, I couldn’t help observe how the drive towards self-service affected the way the staff interacted with their customers. I understand the desire to reduce costs and that’s fair enough, so long as there’s a sufficiently level playing field for others to offer alternatives. Personally, I’d rather pay a little more and have some human contact, or even a little bit more than that and still have local independent shops.

Anyway, my thoughts meandered into the territory of the National Health Service. Would a similarly dehumanised health service be characterised by stressed and low paid staff shouting at queues of the sick? Shouts to cajole and point out that you can queue for an x-ray if you want, but there are plenty of self-service booths available and it’ll be a lot faster.

On the other hand, a loyalty scheme that gave the most frequent users the most reward points could be a winner.

Am I being unfair? Possibly.

Anyone for a self-service eye test or a do-it-yourself cancer diagnosis?

I was pleased to be featured on the Confessions of a Bookaholic blog as the author in the spotlight, answering questions that included whether being British has influenced my writing in any way and why I think Grey is the most interesting character I’ve created so far?